Don't kill the messenger! The Bachelor's Chris Harrison was on the receiving end of some unwarranted hostility on Sunday, Sept. 15, when he co-hosted the 2014 Miss America pageant with Lara Spencer in Atlantic City, N.J.

Harrison, 42, was put in the unenviable position of having to cut off Miss Florida Myrrhanda Jones during her interview portion of the pageant, after her answer ran longer than the time allotted. He was polite about it, but the crowd didn't take nicely to Jones being interrupted.

"It's a timed answer!" he explained when the audience erupted in boos. "Don't make me the bad guy!"

That only made the boos louder. "Alright, I'm the bad guy," he conceded good-naturedly. "Bring it on."

Later, after the pageant ended, the Bachelor host joked about the incident on Twitter. "Loved getting some boos tonight," he quipped. "I'm near Philly; they must know I'm a Dallas boy! #MissAmerica @DallasCowboys."

Jones, for her part, was named the third runner-up in the competition. She finished behind Miss Oklahoma Kelsey Griswold, Miss California Crystal Lee, and Miss New York Nina Davuluri, who became the first contestant of Indian descent to win the Miss America crown.